Foot Golf!

FOOT GOLF!

Soooooooo.... sometime last week my son showed me a picture from iFunny about soccer golf. As a HUGE soccer family, I thought this was the best idea I had ever heard of. I immediately wanted to bring this random notion to reality.  Fut Fut Golf we would call it.  The market would be ours, buwahahahaha... oh, sorry.

Turns out that Foot Golf does exist- albeit with a much lamer name and the closest course just opened about an hour away at Willow Valley Golf Course (http://willowvalley.com/lancaster-pa-doubletree/amenities/golf-course/).

PLANNING:  I made a phone call down there and spoke to a super nice man who explained the dress code: no cleats, no cut off shorts,  no body shirts (i.e.,  tank tops, muscle shirts...).  Cost- $10 for the 9 hole course.  Bring your own ball or rent for $2.  Carts are available for $5 per person (yes, really per person).  Again it was hot out, so we packed LOTS of drinks and some snacks for later and hit the road.

THE DRIVE: The drive took us 283 E to the Fruitville pike and took us through downtown Lancaster, which was interesting, but turns out we could have taken 741 E and skipped about a million traffic lights. The golf course was easy to find- as was the pro shop where we paid the same nice guy I had spoken to.

THE ADVENTURE: Foot Golf (seriously, you know you like Fut Fut better) is played just like real golf: your foot is the club, the ball is bigger as is the hole. We let M tee off first, as we were all certain his 9+ years of soccer training would supersede all of our skills (possibly combined). He did not disappoint.  A went next and proved to be quite a force on the course, her 4 yrs of soccer training shined through, even beating her brother to birdie a par 3! T and R are not soccer players but took to the tee with everything they had!  Pulling up the rear of the pack, not content to sit and watch the fun this time, Kim and I also took to the tee.  My 4 games of soccer did not shine through, but Kim and I played with unabashed fun.

The 9 holes went in a similar fashion:  M teed off and waited, waited, waited.  The rest of us teed off and worked hard to catch up to M, who in one more kick would be near the hole.  Like real golf, the satisfaction of one good kick (hit) was enough to keep us trying harder and harder and wanting to do better and better.  I do feel like there was a marked improvement from the first hole to the last!  I even managed to kick the ball from the tee over the creek with out it (or me) getting wet.

The course is built on and around a real golf course, where NO ONE was golfing.  The (rarely hit) green made the ball roll fast, which was great when we were going down hill and not so great (yet entertaining) while going up hill.  It was fun trying to figure out all the different strategies to try to get the ball to go where we wanted it to and how to fix it when it did not get there. 

TIPS/TRICKS:  Bring your own ball if you have them. Don't get a cart- unless you are able to kick a ball more than 30 yards (if you have never played soccer- you can't.  Do not think your 5th grade kickball prowess will help you now!!!). Get the score card- you will need the map to get from hole to hole.  Bring lots of drinks, you will be thirsty afterwards- there is a McDs across the street.

 I am not sure how much fun  it would be if the course was crowded, but I think by not starting until noon (Foot Golf starting time), much of the golfing crowd can be avoided.  I also think this would be an AMAZING outing for soccer teams (10 or more need a reservation).